Thomas Cook signs up for sustainability pledge

Thomas Cook announced today that it has become the first operator to make a worldwide pledge for sustainability by signing up for the Travelife Sustainability System across all of its global businesses. The system allows hotels and other types of accommodation to be rated according to how sustainable they are. Assessed on areas including waste and energy management, their employment policies and how they support their local economies, hotels are rated one of three levels – bronze, silver and gold.“Thomas Cook’s commitment to sustainability is serious and long-term and we wanted a scheme that would not only be consistent across all our hotels worldwide but offer our customers a easy way to select hotels that excel in these areas,” Andy Cooper, Thomas Cook’s director of government and external affairs, said. “We have hotel groups with properties in many different countries supplying our various markets, so it makes sense that we all use one, credible system that will drive up sustainability performance.” The commitment means that tens of thousands of hotels should now have an incentive to join the Travelife system, which will in turn push them to improve and market their sustainability practices.TTG[photo courtesy Thailand Tourism]